freeline-105 - Flipbook - Page 168
EXCLUSIVE
o n ly five minutes from ho m e.
T he hustle and bustle of d a y t i cket carping never re a l l y
a p pealed — but after hea r i n g
t h e stories and seeing t h e
p h otos he sent, my h e a d
w as well and truly tu rn e d .
A date was set, the kit w a s
p r epped, and the exci tem e n t
b u ilt quickly. We lef t at 4 a m
I was stunned by how
beautiful the lake was and
c o u l d n ’t w a it t o g e t t h e r o d s
o u t f o r m y th r e e - n i g h t s e ss i o n .
As soon as I started plumbing
the depths, it became obvious
j u st h o w we e d y t h e l a k e w a s .
Having only really fished silty
w a te r s , t h e n e x t c o u p l e o f
h o u r s w e re l e s s “ s p o t f i n d i n g ”
t o reach the gates for se v e n ,
a n d as we drove do wn t h e
t r ack and the lakes op ened u p
b e fore us, I felt a buzz th a t I
s t i ll get every single sessi o n .
We headed straight into t h e
s h op where Tony greeted u s
— cuppa in one hand, ro l l - u p
i n the other. “Go and fin d y o u r
p e g, boy, and come b ack a n d
p a y.” There was only ever o n e
l a ke I was heading for.
For two years my friend J o n
h a d talked about it no n-s t o p ,
a n d now it was finally my t u r n .
I t was early April — sti ll c o l d
— so the lake wasn’t o v e rl y
b u sy. We hurried arou nd a n d
m anaged to bucket Poi nt O n e
a n d Point Two. What a res u l t.
and more “thrashing the water
i n t o su b m i s s i o n .” M y h e a d
w a s n e a r l y g o n e.
E v e n tu a l l y, I f o u n d o n e
decent spot at around 14
w ra p s, b u t i t w a s n ’t b i g
e n o u g h f o r t h r e e r o d s . Si t t i n g
on my bucket, roll-up lit, I
p o n d e r e d m y o p t i o n s.
Bugger it, I thought. Three
z i g s i t i s — r e a s s e s s t o m o r r o w.
M y k n o wl e d g e o f z i g f i s h i n g
w a s l i m i t e d, b u t a t l e a s t I ’d
b e f i s h i n g. I c a s t t h r e e 1 0 foot black zigs into an area
w h e r e I’d s e e n a s h o w, a t e m y
d i n n e r, a n d b y 7 p m I w a s f a s t
asleep — the early start and
excitement had caught up
w i t h m e.
BigCarp 166
